2017 covers

Thursday, June 27, 2013

Thank you
to the Darksiders for hosting me here once more. This week, I thought I’d talk
a bit about some of the things I considered when developing and writing about
the magic of Tzamesch, where the Shadow Series is set.

Some
writers build their work with encyclopaedic accuracy before they ever start a
story. I have never been able to do it that way; I find it stifles the story
process for me. Instead, I use a combination of learning about my world through
storytelling, and then working out the logic behind what I’ve ‘seen’ happen in
the story and writing the rules so that I have consistency in the rules
governing the world.

For
instance, when I first started writing Tzamesch, I knew I wanted there to be
something a little bit different in the way magic operated. I didn’t like the
idea of wizards having to learn a set number of spells at the beginning of the
day, like they are required to do in some roleplaying systems. I didn’t like
the idea of wielding magic being so exhausting that even the smallest spell
took a great physical toll. I didn’t think all magic wielders should work the
same way, but I also didn’t know exactly how to describe what I wanted until I’d
used magic in the story.

It soon
became clear that magic, at least for the most common kind of magic-user, was a
kind of energy or force that could be tapped into and shaped. This meant I had
to answer the question of why not everyone was a magic user. I decided it was
genetic—not everyone has the capability to sense, feel or draw on the magical
energy around them, and not everyone who can, is able to shape it. People are
born with different abilities, and magical sensitivity and shaping was one of
those.

As I wrote,
I also found that there were different kinds of magic, with elemental magic
playing a pivotal role in the story. I also learned that the difference had to
be explained or shown so that the reader could focus more on the story than on
wondering what the importance of those differences was. I decided elemental
magic was different to ‘normal’ magic, but only to a small degree.

I drew on
known and accepted understandings of elemental magic in our own world and
decided that elemental magic on Tzamesch means more than earth, air, wind or
fire. Everything is an element: stones, gems, decay, death… and power, which is
also central to the story’s villain. This led to me deciding that there had
been a pantheon before the one existing in the book, and that led to me asking
more questions as I explored yet another form of magic—that of clerics and
priests.

I had to
ask: How are gods and goddesses formed? Where do they come from? Where do they
go when they die? How do they die? and What role do mortals play in the
life-cycle of a god?

With the
books having such strong elements of deities and their interference in mortal
affairs, these were questions that required an answer in order for the story to
move forward.

I decided
that what a person worships is instrumental in giving rise to a deity. This
meant that while there were now human deities who represented different facets
of the human world, because humans saw those facets to be important: night, balance,
fishermen, coastlines, death, invention, plague, pestilence and so forth. In
earlier times, however, humans worshiped the elements around them: the earth
that helped them grow their food, the air that brought storms and rain, the
water that helped their crops grow, and the fire that cooked their food and
drove off predators. Everything important to their survival was given a place.
As society advanced and changed, so did the kinds of things humans worshipped.

The worship
of stone led to the discovery of metal, which led to the rise in importance of
smiths and inventors, which led to a gradual increase in the worship of a god
of smiths and a god of inventors and brought about a decline in the worship of
metal as an element. Likewise, an increase in the worship of a god of masons led
to a decrease in the worship of the element of stone. And so it went.

As the new
deities grew into being and developed a place in the human pantheon, the old
elemental deities withdrew from the world, and elemental magic became a thing
of the past. No longer the domain of priests, the power of the elements could
still be sensed by some, in the same way that magic could be sensed. Without a
deific link, I decided that the ability to sense and use magic and the more
specific ability to sense and use elemental power were related, but that the
elemental sense was rarer.

I also
revisited my idea about magic being tiring, and decided that if particularly
difficult spells were cast, or if the caster had to repeatedly cast spells,
then magic was tiring, and again came
the constant question ‘Why?’. It took me some time to answer that, but I worked
out that the reason wizards who attempt a magic beyond their ability, or who
draw on spells over a prolonged period, collapse or die is because they eventually
end up drawing on the magic inside themselves, for it takes a degree of magic
to sense and use magic. Spell-casters are, in essence, magical creatures, and
magic gives their souls a different flavour.

…and this
flavour is what enables other magical creatures to hunt them—another important
element in the story as the nemesis threatening the world uses his undead to
hunt wizards so he can use the power stored in their souls to fuel his escape
attempt.

So, how
does this illustrate world-building, and why is it important?

Everything
interlinks. Important story elements have a background. There is a reason why
elementals are involved, and a reason why the villain of the piece has
difficulty finding the right kind of soul to power his escape. Everything
serves the purpose of moving the story forward, giving something important to
the story an understandable reason for existing, or giving the readers an
insight into the world’s mechanics.

Some of this
background never appears in the book itself, but me knowing it exists helps me
give each occurrence a commonality so that the reader can start to make sense
of the world and feel a little more at home in it. This means the reader can
focus more on the story than on wondering why things work as they do in the
characters world. It reduces the chance they’ll be pulled out of the story
because something didn’t work as they expected, because it was different to the
last time they saw it. It helps the reader become immersed in your world, and
enjoy it more.

C.M. Simpson spent the first twenty years of her life living in different parts of Queensland
and the Northern Territory. Her father was a teacher who liked to travel, so he
took teaching appointments in all kinds of places. To cope with the constant travel, C.M. wrote stories, drawing on the different landscapes she encountered and giving a
hyper-active imagination somewhere to run. Seeing so many different places gave
her a lot of food for thought as she stepped into the world of adulthood and she never stopped writing and exploring the worlds in
her head.

Kylie Griffin'sVengeance Born has won the 2012 Alternate Reality section of the Cover Cafe's cover contest. It was one of one hundred entries in this section! You can see the reader's comments here.

BOOK COVERS & RELEASE DATES

Eleni Konstantine'sSnoop, her paranormal noir novelette, will be released 6th December, 2013 with Musa Publishing.SNOOP's rule of investigating: Never take the paranormal at face value.Daisy Luck is a SNOOP - Sanctioned Nationalized Officer Of the Paranormal. Her latest case involving a vampire and a gremlin has her private eye senses in a spin. Throw in yummy Detective Maroney and her life couldn't get more complicated - or could it?

Keri Arthur'sDarkness Splintered will be released November 5th, 2013 from Signet.

Risa has angered several powerful people, and she’s starting to feel the
pressure from all sides. She also finds herself under the scrutiny of
the vampire council, some of whom consider her a monster who should be
destroyed. But they offer her a bloody bargain: Take on the lethal head
of the council and others will support her. As the search for
the keys to hell heats up, Risa realizes that she has no choice. For the
sake of the people she loves, she must find the keys—and get rid of
Hunter—before the next gate is opened and brings the world closer to all
hell breaking loose....

T.F.Walsh's debut release, Cloaked in Fur, comes out in e-book format with Crimson Romance on August 5th, 2013.

As a moonwulf, Daciana never expected to fall in love with a human. Hell, she never imagined that she’d abandon her pack, endanger everyone around her, and break the worst rule possible. But she did.A rogue werewolf is killing Daciana’s friends, and she sets on capturing the creature. She’ll do whatever it takes to stop the beast. The police and her boyfriend, Inspector Connell Lonescu, are starting to question her involvement in the murders, which is endangering the pack’s secret existence. But when the pack alpha kidnaps Connell, revealing the awful truth about the creature and its connection to the pack, Daciana must choose between saving the man she loves and saving her pack family from certain death.

Troll Mist Morning:When Worlds Collide #1 by Carlie Simonsen was released on June 2nd, 2013.

Troll-Mist Morning is the story of a teen who goes the extra mile so his mum can feel safe. Early morning starts, and standing around in the mist in the middle of winter, however, are one thing; trolls are another. When magic returns to the world and the trolls come, too, how is Daniel going to get his mum to see sense? Troll-Mist Morning is the first book in the series exploring what happens When Worlds Collide.

The Lies We Tell is Elizabeth Dunk's contemporary romance released on August 1 with Escape Publishing.

Ten years ago, Todd Lansing stood over his father’s grave, his heart thumping out curses on Sia Collins for causing his death. When he returns to Oberon and sees Sia again, his heart thumps with a different emotion, one he fights with all the anger he still feels.Sia didn’t commit the break-in that ended up killing Mr Lansing, but to admit that would send her father to jail. She has rebuilt her life in the small town, atoned for her accused crime, and carved out a niche using her talent with paint to reach out to the community, raise funds, and support her family.When Todd finds out the truth, he can’t understand why Sia won’t speak out and clear her name, and it threatens to tear them apart. With her relationship with Todd on the line, will Sia choose loyalty or love?

Pussy Cat, Pussy Cat by Ellie Moonwater was released on 8 June 2013 and is currently available at Smashwords, Kobo, Kindle, iTunes and Nook.
It is available as an e-book and print-on-demand paperback.

Pussy Cat, Pussy Cat is an erotic romance set in a time when magic has returned to a mundane world, of travelling across the Fields of Time, and of an enemy ruthless enough to betray his brother and attempt to dominate an unsuspecting world. It contains elements of ménage, light bondage and explicit sex scenes set against a backdrop of the modern world and Egyptian myth.

C.M.Simpson'sShadow's Fall:Shadow's series #3 was released on June 1st, 2013.

Shadow’s Fall
is the third and final novel in the Shadow series trilogy. This tale
contains strong elements of horror, following the path of a small group
of heroes who must work together to prevent an ancient evil’s escape.

C.M. Simpson'sMagick on the Forest's Edge was released on 8 June 2013 and is available at at Smashwords, Kindle, Kobo, Nook and iTunes.

Magick on the Forest’s Edge is a fantasy short story, where two children investigate a magical alarm, and face the consequences of trying to do the right thing against great odds.

Imogene Nix'sThe Blood Bride was released from Total-E-Bound this month.

Hope and Xavier must fight for their lives and those of the innocents in a battle for good and evil. But will it be enough?Hope
just wants to be an ordinary nestling. She went to college and escaped,
but now she’s back and there’s a secret everyone is keeping from her.Xavier
is the new master of the nest, ready to welcome home the daughter of
the house who he has never met. He’s unprepared for the woman who steals
his breath and enchants him.Now Hope and Xavier must fight for
their lives and those of the innocents. After all, it is only by
overcoming the rogues that they will have a chance of a timeless future
together. But will it be in time?

REVIEWS

Lick by Kylie Scott has been receiving some favourable early reviews. The first is a 5/5 rating from Worlds of Wonderment.

"Lick is filled with enough angst, drama and blush inducing
scenes that will not disappoint. Lick is a one sitting read that will have
glued to the pages and forgetting about everything around you; bodily
functions, housework, children and needy pets will fall by the wayside whilst
you finish this book. I love the way Kylie tells her stories and can’t wait for
book two in this series."

"For those of you who have read Kylie Scott's other books (Flesh, Skin, Room with a View:Hot DownUnder, Colonist's Wife) you’ll know about her talent for writing snazzy one liners and snarky,
tongue in cheek conversations that have you swooning, giggling, and
panting with lust. For those of you, who have yet to experience Kylie’s
ninja writing skills, prepare for a great ride... Lickis an experience in awesome..."

"... this book goes from being great to becoming awesome. The perfect blend
of steamy chemistry between the characters and believable emotional
growth, this is a story that will keep you in a constant state of
‘I-need-more-more-more’. More of the delicious love scenes, more of the
intensity between the characters, more of the angst."

"Shona Husk writes
these deliciously dark fairytales... There is just something about her
perspective that compels you to like her characters....This book was most excellent.. [she] writes a wicked fantasy...teasing us on one hand and torturing us on the other. In depth, detailed and delightful..."

When
Things Go Wrong

Hi World, it’s Imogene Nix here!

Today’s blog isn’t the usual “woe is me”
that you might think based on the title. (See, but it did make you read on,
didn’t it??)It’s more a celebration of
how, when things go wrong, it’s usually for a reason.

I’m probably the biggest proponent of that.

As a writer, we are not an island (Sound
familiar?) Yes, I know... the old “No man is an island...” but there was never
a truer word spoken in jest or otherwise. No writer is an island.They don’t form on the world fully grown up
dressed and with computer in hand (thought that would make an interesting
premise...)

Every writer I know is an amalgam of
thoughts, feelings, experiences and knowledge. These have taken years to form. And a hell of a lot of hiccups too, usually.

When in their native environment, we/they
tend to congregate in herds (a bit like cattle really) chewing over the
motivators of their characters, the pros and cons of location and aesthetics of
describing their current situations.

But you know what? While writing is a
lonely exercise, where we block out the world, we also form close friendship
groups. Those we can rely on to be honest with us. To tell us, not what we want
to hear, but what we need to hear.

Those groups come together over time. There
will be missteps and mistakes along the way. Unless you are an excellent judge
of character, sometimes there will be the odd incomplete meshing, where the
association will fizzle and fall away, a bit like yesterdays rewrite. It’s sad,
yet a fact of life. Lots of friendships go that route, but the true ones hang
around (like last week’s socks, smelling up the corner!)

But you know what? Over time we find people
who share our values, beliefs and interests. They make us better
writers/authors. They celebrate with us when things go right and commiserate
when they go wrong. And most importantly They
Get Us.

These friendship groups that writers form
buoy us up and remind us of why we are here. In fact, they become like a pseudo
family to us. They know when we’ve just killed off a character that we adore
but has to die to help tell the tale. They celebrate when hero gets the heroine
and they will boo and hiss when the bad guy kidnaps said heroine (or hero if
that floats your boat). But they understand our motivations and compulsions.

Most importantly, they will respect you in
the morning. Treat you like you want to be treated and be above all, honest.

So if you are in a group that maybe doesn’t
motivate you, that you don’t mesh with fully, or get you and your motivation...
Take heart! There could be another one, just ready for you to take the plunge.

I have to tell you, I’ve done it and
without my lovely HTH crew around me, I wouldn’t be the author I am now! And
you can take that promise to the bank!

Friday, June 21, 2013

Welcome to June's WWAR. This month there's everything from steampunk to urban fantasy to historical. Enjoy!Jenny SchwartzI've been reading Adina West's serialised novel, Dark Child. I'm up to Episode 4, but Episode 1 is available free if anyone wants a taste test. It's an intriguing paranormal world with some great twists.

Shona Husk's Dark Secrets has a very attractive anti-hero in a seriously different Wild West world.

I haven't reviewed Bec McMaster's free novella, Tarnished Knight, but if you like your steampunk sexy and with a paranormal edge, you're in for a treat!

Ellie's Gentleman by Georgiana Louis.
It's a sweet story, set in regency times. I also have to own up here, because I was one
of the readers of this before it was contracted. I adore this story. Out 15th May with SteamEReads.

Shona HuskApocalypse to Go by Katharine Kerr
This is book 3 in the Nola O'Grady series. It's urban fantasy that works across multiple deviant worlds. It's fascinating and compelling and totally different to Kerr's Deverry series. I really feel for Ari having to grabble with all the weirdness and I love the way it's all normal for Nola. Great fun.

Thursday, June 20, 2013

I don’t listen to music when I write, however I make a playlist for all my novels. When I’m running or at work I’ll listen to those songs to keep me in the story while I’m writing the first draft. Later that playlist helps me get back into the story for edits. The music is my short cut to getting in the mood.

I remember plotting this story and being at an Eskimo Joe concert (they were launching the Ghosts of the Past album) and I heard Echo for the first time. Right then I knew that would be perfect for the hero Caspian who is psychometric. Crossfire by Brandon Flower was already on the list—because getting caught in fairy drama is never a good thing.

Sometimes the playlist develops organically as I plot, other times I go looking for songs as I need that anchor into the world I’ve created. While for a novel or a series I might end up with 20-30 songs, for a novella it might only be 2 or 3 songs. Some songs hold greater meaning than others and become attached to a particular point in the story.

Devil’s Party by INXS will always be the Court of Annwyn. Lush and with seemingly no morals they gamble and make deals, use sex to secure favors and either have no understanding or no use for love.

There is a downside to the playlist. After listening to the same songs for weeks on end while writing the first draft it’s always wonderful to switch it off and listen to something else :).

To go in the draw to win a copy of The Outcast Prince tell me what your favourite song is. Winner will be drawn 7pm WST Sunday 23 June.
~~~Outcast Prince had me spellbound from the first page! Shona Husk's engaging voice and vivid, creative world-building make every one of her books a must-read!" - Larissa Ione, New York Times bestselling author
"Brilliantly unique, beautifully sensual, The

Caspian Mort can feel the history in anything he touches, a gift he inherited from his father, the Crown Prince of Annwyn.
Devastated over his ex-wife's infidelity, Caspian has withdrawn from human contact except when working as an antiques dealer.

While assessing the contents of the historic Callaway House he encounters the beautiful Lydia Callaway
and senses that her home is haunted by a banished fairy.
But what does the dangerous exile want?

Unbeknownst to Lydia,
she's the owner of the last remaining portal to Annwyn--a mirror hidden somewhere in the house. To keep Lydia safe, Caspian will have to divulge the secrets of his heritage, and risk losing his heart again.

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Forgive me, I am horrendously late with this A Bite of... but I'm happy to introduce the wonderful Imogene Nix with A Bite of her bookThe Blood Bride.

Can you in less than five words describe your book?Dark,
Vampiric but totally sexyWhat inspired you to write it?Gee, that’s hard.I guess I
wanted something that walked the line between the new look vampire themes and
the scorching offerings JThe Blood Bride just kind of appeared in my
head.Here's the snippet!

Hope hauled the last heavy box
up the stairs of the manor house, occasionally catching glimpses of the way her
midnight black hair shone in the sunlight, when she passed the window in the
living room of her apartment. “Thank heavens this is the last one,” she
muttered to herself, sliding the box down to rest on the floor, before
straightening and rubbing the nagging ache in her back. She could have had
help, all she needed to do was ask, but now that she was an adult she needed to
stand on her own two feet, she reminded herself.

Straightening up, she looked
around at the mass of boxes waiting for her to delve into. “Well, gone away and
back again. Where do I start first?”

The phone trilled and she
started for an instant, before extending her hand to the receiver on the shelf
beside her. “Hope.”

“Miss Hope, do you require any
help? Lisi is wondering if you require her assistance.” The muffled voice of
one of her guardians flowed out of the earpiece. She had forgotten that living
at the manor meant the goldfish bowl lifestyle she had tried her best to escape
at college. Not that she’d had much opportunity to live a free lifestyle. She’d
been lodged with a guardian family within the college grounds. Even then, her
personal team of five guards had shadowed her every move—to classes, shopping
and even to the hairdresser’s.

They hadn’t escaped her notice,
the looks some of her classmates had thrown her way. Longing for the lifestyle
they’d thought she enjoyed. Little did they know, Hope would happily have
swapped, a lot of the time. Downtime had existed within a carefully vetted
group of companions, each from houses of similar status. The cloying atmosphere
she hated, but, nonetheless, she had submitted to her parents’ will. Only a few
times had she sought to do activities that they would have deemed
inappropriate, but her conscience had always kicked in, and she had derived no
enjoyment from the guilty feelings that had overcome her.

“No thanks, Jeffrey. I have all
the boxes up here and I am going to take my time going through everything.” How
could she explain that she needed a freedom that had been denied? That this
small and almost insignificant rebellion was one she embraced? But she couldn’t.
It wasn’t fair to Jeffrey to share that.

“Fine, Miss Hope. Oh, and I am
supposed to remind you, the new Master has requested your presence in his
library after sundown.”

She nodded, knowing it was
expected that she would take her oath of fealty. “Oh. Right. I’ll be down for
sunset.” She laid down the receiver. It’s one thing to owe your continued
safety to a vampire nest Master, but quite another to be at his beck and call
all the time, just as her parents had been. Her temper spiked momentarily. The
emotion coiled through her then she shuddered, pushing away the negative
thought, while absently reaching for the boxes she needed to stack, store or
unpack. The rough exterior of some of them brushed against her hands. For now,
she had time. Lots of time.

Ripping the tape off the first
box, she then started to root through it, unwrapping reminders of her slightly
more free college life, formulating arguments to put to her parents, knowing
that the dice were stacked against her. Her life had been mapped out since her
birth, but perhaps she could find a way around some of the roadblocks. At least
she hoped so. With that thought, she set to work.